World’s longest nonstop flight piloted by Indian captains

The first nonstop flight from Newark in the US to Changi in Singapore by the Singapore Airlines was piloted by four captains, of which two were Indian origins captains – I R Chaudhury and Ruben Gamoo.

The Singapore Airlines (SIA) inaugurated the world’s longest non-stop flight from Singapore’s Changi airport to Newark airport in New Jersey of the US last Thursday. This longest non-stop flight was made by Airbus A350 Ultra Long Range (ULR) that was flown by four pilots and the return flight from Newark to Singapore was operated a day later on Friday. The world’s longest non-stop flight travels a distance of 16,800 kilometres – from one continent to another with a total flying time of 19 hours.

The crew of the epic world’s longest nonstop flight was divided into two sets of two pilots and the team consisted of two Indian captains among the total of four. Each set of pilot had a captain and a first officer (FO) and a SIA Spokesperson said on this, “There were four pilots operating the inaugural Newark-Singapore flight. Out of the four pilots, three are Singaporeans while one is Malaysian. Their names and ranking are: Captains I R Chaudhury and Ruben Gamoo and senior first officers Maxx Tan and KH Lim.”

This feat indicates the strong presence of India pilots in foreign airlines, operating crucial and latest aircraft like A350 ULR. Earlier this year, one news company had reported that at least 60 Indian origins pilots are flying the latest highly equipped aircraft like A380s with Emirates and Etihad. Now wonder why a lot of Indians are attracting towards making piloting a career. A leading Gulf’s website says the monthly salary of the First Officers flying A380 and Boeing 777 is Rs. 7.9 lakhs (tax-free and accommodation allowance included) which makes the first choice among youth.